// PinUp Culture

Today I thought it'd be fun to write about pin-up culture and it's effect on mainstream fashion. It's no news that most mainstream fashion advertisements are propelled forward by the "ideal" body - thin, tall, and usually very "sexed" up. There's nothing wrong with any of those things... but once they become the "norm" they start to feel a bit forced. This got me thinking about the way clothes were marketed in the mid-20th century. Advertisements boasted photos and illustrations of "voluptuous" women and the attire, while still very sexy, was much more "modest". Nowadays the bygone era of day dresses and petticoats usually make people think of one of two things: Stepford Wives or pin-ups. Pin-up culture is still alive and well today, but the general target market is so far from the mainstream norm. Today you're more likely to see a curvy, tattooed lady don a 50's frock or retro-inspired bathing suit than you are a more "model-esque" gal. I can't help but wonder why that is?

Is it just me or do the pin-up styles really seem to target more toward the alternative crowd? Most designers and fashion houses use a tattooed model or plus-size gal in their marketing to "make a statement" or incite some sort of "shock" reaction. However, if you look at any pin-up brand or site, you'll be met with an abundance of varying body types and modifications. That's one reason I really love the pin-up brands that are making their mark in the apparel industry today. They make the "rest of us" feel normal. Another reason? Those garments make me feel beautiful! There's just something about the construction and execution of the style that really fits and flatters most body types. Plus it's hard to hate on anything that makes novelty prints look that good, right?!

The real reason I think these brands are so great? Most of them don't separate their straight size lines from their plus sizes. That sounds like such a strange thing to compliment doesn't it? Any brand offering any larger sizes is a good thing, but a great thing is when they don't feel the need to publicize it and market it saying "Oh! Look at us! We cater to the plus size girls, too! Ooh and Ahh over us now!" There's no Plus or Curve after their sizes. They just offer the sizes that the market demands. They make plus sizes because they should. Because plus size girls are just as worthy of fabulous clothes as straight size girls. Because you wouldn't separate clothing based on race or sexual orientation, right? So why do that with body size?! We're all people and we all need to wear clothes (well, most of us). No girl should be shunned to a small corner of a website or retail store to shop for clothes that fit and flatter her body.

Out of the 10 items pictured above, I own 5 of them. Numbers 1, 3, 6 (outfit coming soon!), 7 (worn here!) and 9 (worn here!). And they're some of my very favorite pieces in my wardrobe (#4 needs to get in my life, STAT! Doesn't Doris Mayday look like the bomb dot com?!). These brands don't just cater to a specific size set. They cater to the larger portion of our demographic (which is actually size 14+!). Brands like Hell Bunny London, Bettie Page Clothing, Esther Williams, and PinUp Girl Clothing are just a few that strive to make each and every woman feel like a million bucks. Esther Williams swimsuits go up to a size 26 and Hell Bunny London and Bettie Page dresses are often produced in sizes upward of 4x! How many other straight-sized fashion brands do that? Granted there is still a large portion of consumers that exceed that and are often left out of the fashion game, but it's certainly a step in the right direction in terms of size awareness and attainability, wouldn't you say?

I really love the style and attitude that goes along with pin-up culture. The size acceptance, the "badass" attitude, and the overall belief that being sexy in the daytime isn't wrong... kind of sounds like a dream to me! Now if only I weren't so hopeless when it came to victory rolls (or really any hairstyle that isn't big and frizzy/curly haha!) What do you think? Are you into pin-up style attire? Am I totally fabricating the pinup/alternative connection here?!

P.S; Another thing each of these brands have in common: They'll be showing at WWDMagic in Las Vegas next month (!!!). Would it not be a dream. come. true! to go?! Um yes, duh. I know a few of you have attended Magic before, so spill! I want to know all the deets! Was it totally crazy and awesome? Did you attend as a buyer or vendor? Did you just spend several days gawking over all of the beautiful items? The thought of Magic makes my brain explode in the best way haha!

36 comments:

I wear fifties style dresses pretty much all the time. What more does a girl need, after all, but a pretty dress, a nice cardigan and a pair of killer heels? Especially Hell Bunny is one of my favourites, because of their reasonable prices. And who can argue with the size issue? It's not a problem for me specifically, but I can't figure out why most high street brands stop making clothes at UK14 or UK16...

as a US 10/12 in dresses (UK 14/16) i find it so frustrating to be at the very tip top of (most) sizing guides. and when i fit firmly in the national average, that's even more of a red flag. there's so many consumers that brands fail to recognize. it's frustrating for me when the largest size is still too small, but to know that there are girls who are *so* limited in every single clothing choice is problematic! but i 10000% agree with you - give me a frilly dress, cardigan and heels, or give me death! ;P

Love this post. Jes over at The Militant Baker was making the same points- a lot of the cooler companies are blurring the line between plus sized and non-plus sized (like Modcloth) and I think it's just fantastic. I actually have a bias towards non model type bodies, because in reality I know I won't fit whatever that model is wearing or the article of clothing won't look anything like that on my figure. That's why I prefer style blogs to fashion mags :) And I need #9 in my life stat! Thanks for the great post!

I have to disagree with Michelle as far as ModCloth goes. They go so far as to use two separate pages for the straight-size and plus-size versions of the SAME ITEMS! I find it incredibly demeaning: it says that they see a difference between the kind of girl who would wear each. Unfortunately, I still find myself having to shop at ModCloth because they're one of the few retailers that even offers cute clothes in extended sizes - even if the majority of the items they carry run S-M-L or maybe XL, and even if they do market their XXL+ items differently.

I really respect shops like Pin-Up Girl Clothing and Bettie Page for making a wide range of sizes and marketing them alike. But I also have to agree with Erin Gerofsky below, that these styles have some element of exclusivity or costume. I love all things 40s-60s, and I'm lucky enough to work in the design field where it's totally cool to wear rockabilly or pin-up influenced styles to the office. But I imagine it must suck to be a more conservatively-minded dresser, by choice or profession, who doesn't happen to be a size 10 or under. I adore all of the items pictured above, but I think #8 might be the only one that would really fly in a more staid office environment... maybe #6, on occasion, with a cardigan. I'd love to see some of these retro-repro designers embrace modest necklines and solid colors as enthusiastically as they do curves.

Hi there! First off, like every other post I love this one. I think the pin-up and rockabilly style have opened the doors for women who aren't a size 2 to really come out of their shell and be able to dress/feel "sexy". I have the typical hispanic girl body and having wide hips makes it very difficult to find jeans. At first I thought I was "overweight" but then I realized that most brands don't cater to my body. I either wore really tight pants or baggier pants and I hate that. So, yeah I agree with your view on the pin up style. It caters to all body types and allows us girls who have a little more love to feel right at home.

I think that you've hit on an important note here, but I think that "pinup culture" may not be quite the subculture you are talking about here.When it comes to targeting the "alternative" crowd, the subculture (I say this because it includes fashion and music and realistically a certain lifestyle therein) would be Rockabilly. Now, Rockabilly certainly contains notes of the pinup influence, but it stretches wider than that, and also has a distinct style for men (think bowling or western shirts and pompadours!). Pinups themselves were and are a sex-driven icon. Pinups were created by photographing a model, and an artist would then paint a heightened version of the pose and situation; typically featuring exaggerated proportions like very waspy waists that were so in fashion at the time, and the ubiquitous pursed lips. It also often featured women in various states of undress, meant to titillate. I suppose that it's this stark sexuality in the pinup look that makes me feel that it isn't quite what is shown here, and the iconic Rockabilly look that you are referring to.I think it's important to note that while Rockabilly is clearly heavily inspired by 50's fashion, that it is a master of appropriation. Suddenly, you have 50's silhouettes, with 40's hairdos, and shoes inspired by the early 60's. A lot of the patterns play to our assumptions and stereotypes of that time period - animal prints, polka dots, and "Hawaiian" prints - as opposed to acknowledging the real diversity available in fashion at the time. In a sense, this makes the style verge on costume: it plays up certain elements in order to be easily recognizable, as opposed to being widely accessible - not everyone will find something that they like, and as such the style can retain an element of exclusivity. Now, this isn't to say that there is anything wrong with borrowing from the past and creating something new. On the contrary, I myself buy some of these brands as an often more comfortable alternative to true vintage (there's something to be said for the abundance of 100% cotton dresses!). I think that Rockabilly does a fantastic job of taking these elements and creating its own sort of personality, which is what I feel gives it its own name. Especially since there's a fair bit of variety within Rockabilly itself, borrowing stylistic influences from both country western fashion (and music!) and goth and punk fashions. It's these sort of influences that I feel has catered this "classic" look to the alternative crowd: it's easy to find colours that mix well into a preexisting wardrobe (particularly an abundance of black and red!), and the culture surrounding the fashion has evolved in a sort of Venn diagram around these neighbour subcultures. Indeed, I have a feeling if you look to the high school photos of many wearers of the style, you'll probably find an item or two from Hot Topic they'd really prefer to ignore.

I'm sorry that this got SO long! I'm a costume designer who has studied the history of fashion a lot, and this topic speaks so directly to my personal style. I hope there are a few points in there some will find interesting about the appropriation of period elements to create the new style Rockabilly, or Pinup culture as you've referred to it here.

Thanks for the brilliant comment, Erin! You made a ton of great points and I appreciate you sharing those (kindly!) here :) I think I was attempting to speak of the brands specifically, but you're totally correct that it goes much deeper than that. (My History of Fashion class only made it up to the 1920's so you've actually educated me, too!) I can totally see the references to goth and punk in several garments from these brands.

Please never apologize for rad comments like this! They're educational to us all! ;) xo

It's funny, I think that appropriation is looked upon as such a dirty word (maybe because it's most often used recently in terms of "cultural-appropriation"), but at the end of it, it's just a term for inspiration, and being inspired is far from a bad thing. Man, sometimes being backed by that amount of "the book learnin'" it is awful difficult to not just sound ranty, so I'm glad it didn't go there for other folks!!

I also see a connection between pin-up and alternative sub-cultures (both of which I proudly participate in) and I think it is because the alternative crowd really appreciates the nostalgia. They are the ones collecting vintage, they are the ones spinning vinyl. It kind of just makes sense that they would be the ones who are into pin-up styles.

I am also a curvy girl and I wear a ton of pin-up style dresses. I think plus-sized women flock to pin-up styles because they are more flattering. Personally, if my outfit does not accentuate my waist, I look like a big blob!

This was a lovely post, Kaelah. I agree with everything you said 100% percent. I love shopping, if I had money I would do it all the time, but then I also hate it. I'm not a plus size girl, but I am of an average weight that is no near a size 4 and even I have trouble finding clothes that work. And when brands are all different in their sizing? UGH.xx

I also really love that these brands cater to all sizes and shapes of women! I'm not plus-sized but I do usually wear the largest of the straight sizing and it can be super frustrating when the biggest size at the store is still too small. I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to have to shop in a totally different store! I went through a big pin up phase at the tail end of my teen years, and now have moved on to a more vintage inspired feel that makes me feel like the best version of myself.

This is exactly where I fall, too, Becca. Like I mentioned upthread, it's frustrating to be part of the "national average" in terms of size, and still only be able to fit into the size "Large" (if that, at times!) - knowing good and well that so many (the majority!) are being denied just regular every day clothing options. don't even get me started on the awkward "grey" area between straight and plus size - there's rarely anything there either!

I think you make some excellent points here! I absolutely loooove the pin-up style, and brands like Hell Bunny, Bettie Page and Pinup Girl Clothing are staples in my wardrobe! They make me feel beautiful and glamorous. I think you're right that they're marketed towards an "alternative" crowd, but the only alternative thing about them is that they aren't boring! I wish they would broaden their horizons in terms of their target audience, but maybe they're trying to tap into a guaranteed niche. And you're totally right about not flaunting the fact that they offer plus sizes -- all brands just SHOULD. Offering clothing only up to a certain size is still worse than brands that proclaim too loudly that they offer plus sizes, but it can still end in body image issues, embarrassment, frustration, etc. Speaking as someone whose weight has fluctuated her entire life, I appreciate that these brands just want girls to look their very best and feel beautiful. Thanks for posting this! I really enjoyed reading it.

I vended at the Pool tradeshow in 2009, and as a vendor I also had access to the MAGIC show. My sweet husband let me walk around one of the days and it was a lot of fun to see all the new stuff coming out! Plus a lot of the booths in both shows would sell their display pieces to other vendors on the last day... I left with a few new pieces!

GREAT ARTICLE! Yes to everything! I have often had the same thoughts. I cherish these brands (and those like them). I actually had a very emotional experience in the dressing room of a Bettie Page store once. My husband (then fiance') and I were on our anniversary and wandering around Vegas looking for some fun stuff to buy. I began getting increasingly upset because I couldn't find anything for my size 18 bod and I had money to burn. I was is in VEGAS! I started to get teary eyed and we wandered into a Bettie Page store and it was the FIRST time I had been in something other than a Torrid or LB and they had my size. And everything was beautiful and vintage cut and fit me like a glove- even with my giant boobs. I just had a moment and it inspired me to open my own shop! I am so grateful for them and I hope to carry BP and Hellbunny soon so other gals can feel the same way.

Oh and thank you for turning me on to Esther Williams swimsuits!!! The swim-dresses beyond good!

This is a great topic! IMHO, pin-up style or 50s fashions have kind of been in style for a long time. I'd estimate that the 50s have been being idealized since the 80s or so and if you dig hard enough you'd find the 80s version of 50s nostalgia fashion. Of course with any idealized time period, we always think about all the great things and not the bad things that those generations faced! I personally like the 50s style because for one I'm a curvy girl now and those fashions fit better and are flattering for all sizes. (The only thing I miss about being skinny is the clothing selection in store! I'm on the line, at a 14 I often have to shop in the plus size section which is like 1 rack :P) But also, with my background in architectural history I have always favorited mid-century architecture and design, which kind of propelled me into the rockabilly world. But truthfully I just like fashion in general, both past and present, so I just wear what I want and don't self identify with one sub-culture. I do think that rockabilly style is way more mainstream than it used to be though, but that's ok! It's a sexy flattering look! :)

I don't think you are fabricating a connection. While that's not the only niche that wears 50s frocks, I do think that is often a targeted niche (maybe due to Rockibilly and phycobilly being the original market? I dunno). But what is great is it caters to all shapes and sizes...which ALSO means it can cater to many age groups too. My 20-some bridesmaids wore outfits from the same various brands you mentioned above...but so did my mom (it was a 50's themed wedding to reflect our love of dancing and my love of the styles, lol). And everyone looked fantastic; nobody looked costume-y or anything.

I think it's connection to the 'alternative' has a lot to do with Bettie Page...but I'm not sure sure. I kind of want to look that connection up, now. :) Anyhoo - when the pin-up culture came about, it was a breakway from the norm (being sexy during the day? Phooey!), so I love that it still is associated with the alternative side of things and not the this-super-skinny-model-is-ideal norm of fashion. Love this post! :)

I just wrote a post on my blog about the separation of normal and plus sizes today! What a coincidence. (The post is here if you're interested in reading: http://thisismorningblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/separate-and-not-equal.html.)

It's nice to see a place blend the sizing together and I do love the styles. I feel like I need #9 in my life now! Haha. I just wish the style wasn't so pricey. :(

Great post. I have an old friend who chums around with the Pin Up girl crowd & I love wading through his Instagram photos of all the lovely gals. As a lover off all things redhead, I'm particularly fond of Doris Mayday right now :)

As far as clothing goes, I've always been drawn to the pinup / rockabilly style. Part of it comes from always having wide hips & not being able to fit into a lot of the standard clothing, so it was as much about practicality as it was style.

My husband had to run into Target a few weeks back for something, so while he got what he needs I looked at the bathing suits (ugh, I know). I teeter between regular and plus. It just depends on the cut and style. Anyway, I was appalled by the 'plus' size bathing suits! Appalled! They all looked like something my grandmother would wear and were not flattering in the least. I just don't understand why clothing companies continue to do this... Thank you for bringing these clothing companies to my attention. They definitely will get my support and it doesn't hurt that their clothes are so cute!!!!

I totally love the retro/50s style dresses--but like you said, a lot of these styles are very flattering on girls with curves, which is not my body type at all. So maybe I wasn't too fortunate in my love for retro styles--I love Bettie Page, but last time I was in their store, I tried on about 10 different dresses before I finally found a style that fit me. And I'm in love with that dress till this day--it makes me feel like I have curves, even though I don't. :P

I'm a skinnier gal, and I WISH I could have a little more curve! Even after birthing two babies, I'm still a tiny thing! I absolutely love the pin-up style. It inspires my style so much. I'm really wanting a fit and flare dress with a nice, full skirt. I'd wear it ERRDAY.

Great post, lady! I remember discovering 50's silhouettes when I was 14 or so (and more >ahem< developed than many girls my age), and just finally feeling like I had found clothes that fit my body! Defined waistlines, tailored details throughout the bodice (and skirt, if it's a wiggle dress), and fabrics that have a bit more quality - no wonder so many of us have found that these brands make dresses that we want to wear again and again!

My grandfather had a ton of vintage Playboys that we discovered after he died. I flipped through one while we were cleaning out his garage and first discovered the beautiful artwork of Alberto Vargas. I'd love to have an original work of art by him. You should check his work out!

This was a great post! I have always been into vintage and retro things and have found that the clothing from around the pin-up era fits me much better..and it is so much fun to wear! Every time I do wear a dress, though, I feel like at least one person asks me what I'm dressed up for! =P<3

I love the pin up style! It works well with my figure and I really love the style of that era! I recently found Hell Bunny and love their dresses. Also love your two choices!! Can't wait to see you remixing them!

I love pin-up style and basically the whole 50's-60's she-bang at n some of my very favourite pin-up wearers are what the mainstream call "plus-size". I'm really slight in build - about a US size 6 I think? I'm not too good with size conversions, but I love how wearing a petticoat under a dress makes me look like I have curves. There is nothing quite as sexy as a flattering dress with a bold print, and pin-up does that perfectly! Now, if only I could win the lottery and afford the wardrobe of my dreams! xx

I have #4 the heidi dress in that print and it is TO DIE FOR. Pin-up Girl Clothing, is such an amazing company. The owner of the company is a flat out riot and I've never seen someone champion body positivity for EVERYONE like she does! knowing their clothing is made in LA makes it even better. It's gotten to the point where I make a dress or I buy PUG.

I just love pin-up-y style. I'm so glad these stores are catering to all sizes. I actually wish I had more curves so I could look all hourglass pin-up-y!I definitely agree that they market to an alternative demographic, but I guess people with alternative styles are out of the norm and the norm is not retro clothing.